Accepting Donations

This Sunday Kandice and I did a day Kilimanjaro hike and I am now accepting donations to pay the fee to climb to the top. We started at the gate where all hikers that take Marangu, the route with the highest success rate, begin their trek and we continued to the first hut. The first hut is the stopping point on the first day for hikers that are going to the top. The vegetation around us was like a rain forest and there were even monkeys in the trees. But the part that really makes me want to climb to the top was the glow on the faces of people coming down. As we were going up we were passing hikers that we coming down from the summit and they all had such a look of achievement on their faces. At the first hut, 9000 ft in elevation, we stopped to eat lunch. Sitting at the picnic table next to us were some hikers that were just coming down so we asked them how it went. They all said grueling but completely worth it. When you climb kili you carry a pack that has your first aid kit, clothes, and water for the day. The rest of your stuff is carried by porters which I had a lot of questions about. Per hiker there is on average three porters and they carry everything. They carry the food, water, tents, cooking supplies, dishes, sleeping bags, their clothes, and everything else that you need. The weight limit on what a porter carries is suppose to be 25 kg. But the guides can pay the men at the base of the mountain to not weight the bags and porters are frequently carrying 50 kg. Not only do they have a pack on their back but they all had large baskets or sacks on top of their head containing a lot more equipment. Given that they are doing such physical work I was interested in what they were paid so I asked our guide. A porters salary is anywhere from $5 to 10 a day. You can do the math but that means they make $30 to 60 each time they climb kili carrying 50 kg of stuff on top of their head. During high season many of them climb the mountain continuously. They finish one trip up, sleep a night, and then start another trip up. Even though they are carrying all the food and water that doesn't necessarily mean that they are getting much of it on the mountain. The guides on the other hand just carry a pack containing their personal belongings, expect their food and water, and hike along with the tourists. Some guides are fair to their porters, feed them properly, split tips evenly, and treat them with respect but this seems to not be the case most of the time. The whole way up the mountain I had a million questions for John, our guide, about climbing Kili. John is my friend that lives down the street and offered to take us on a day kili hike. I personally thought he would be an awesome guide, and he was, because he had been a porter for 6 years and knew everything about the mountain. He said if I want to climb to the top next time to just give him a call. So once I have enough donations to pay the $1200 climbing fee plus about $500 in tips I will be ready for my climb. Checks can be made payable to Laura Peter.